Hood catch



R. G. MOORE July 24, 1934.

HOOD CATCH Filed Feb. 10, 1952 Patented July 24, 1934 PATENT OFFICE noon CATCH I RaymondG. Moore, Bridgeport, Conn., assignor to The Bassick Company, Bridgeport, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut,

Application February 10, 1932, Serial No. 591,948

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in hood catches, particularly of the type having catch means interiorly and at each end of the hood, and which are adapted to be operated by a single exteriorly arranged operating handle disposed substantially centrally of the hood, the catch means being in the form of rock-shafts having their axes of rotation longitudinally of the hood and the operating :handle being rotatlQ able about an axis disposed transversely of the hood. Heretofore various means have been employed for translating the movement of the operating handle into movement of the catch means, and for the most part these have been complicated, expensive and unsatisfactory, and

because of the use of levers, links, etc, necessitated a number of loose connections and pivots which were subject to wear, rattling, and rapid deterioration, and required considerable effort to ;.20 operate. It is proposed in the present invention to provide movement translating means having few relativelymovable parts and in which loose connections, pivots,-'links etc are eliminated to a great extent, which may be operated withfacility, and which will be efiicient and reliable in operation. To, this end I propose in the exemplary illustrated embodiment of my invention to provide a relatively large barrel cam rigidly connected to the handle shaft, and engaging a yoke member directly connected to the rockshaft meansof the catch elements.

A further object of :the invention is to provide a hood catch whichwill compensate for irregularities ,in the mounting of the hood and'keeper brackets, and which will automatically equalize the holding pressure of the plurality ofv catch means, so that thehood will be held uniformly at all points. Another object is to provide a plurality of differentiallymovable catch elements,

; and equalizing-coupling means in the form of a cam actuated yoke member which will compensate for irregularities that may exist between said elements. A stillgjfurther object-is to provide a hood catchwhich will effectually holdthehood downwardly and inwardly. r

W With the above and other'objects in view an embodiment. of my invention, is; shown in the accompanyingdrawing, and this embodiment will be hereinafter more fully described with. refer- .50 ence thereto and the invention will be finally pointed .out intheclaims.

Inthe drawing: I

, Fig. 1 is a horizontal sectional view through the hood and frame and showing the catch in 5 plan, the same being ,in its operative position,

and intermediate portions of the hood and rockshafts being broken away.

Fig. 2 is an interior elevation, also in operativ position. b

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional View taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an interior elevation showing the catch in inoperative position, the keeper means not being shown.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, the automobile hood 10 is adapted to close in the usual manner against the lacings l1 and 12 of the radiator frame 13 and cowl portion '14 of the chassis. I

Upon the inner face of the hood, and preferably at a central point between the hood ends, there is riveted, or otherwise suitably secured, a bracket plate 15 having a pressed up circular bearing boss 16 provided with a central aperture 1'7 in alignment with an aperture 18 in the hood.

A shouldered cylindrical bearing bushing 19 is secured within the aperture 1'? as by swaging over,

as at-20, and projects into the aperture 18 in the SQ hood so that it is slightly outside the hood surface to form a suitable bearing for the rotary operating handle, presently to be described. The boss is preferably dished, as at 21, in surrounding relation to the aperture 17.

The handle 22 is provided with a reduced diam eter shaft 23 which is journaled in the bushing 19, and at its inner end is projected inwardly from the bushing and is provided with shouldered flat surfaces 2424 at opposed sides, and upon which the barrel cam member is rigidly secured, as will presently more fully appear.

The barrel cam member is preferably in the form of a sheet metal cup having a base 25 and a cylindrical cam wall 26, the base having an eccentrically disposed aperture 27 corresponding in shape to the flatted end of the operating handle shaft 23,, and which is engaged upon said shaft end against the shoulders formed by the flat surfaces 24-24= and secured by a washer 28 and a headed screw 29 screwed into a threaded hole 30 in the end of the shaft 23, this assembly at the same time retaining the handle in its bearing.

A pair of rock shafts 31 and 32 are provided upon the interior of the hood extending at each 19 sideof the bracket plate 15, being journaled near their inner ends in bearing brackets 33 and 34, preferably curled from the bracket plate 15,- and journaled near their out-er ends in bearing brackets 35 and 36 secured interiorly to the hood. 1

The rock-shafts are bent at their inner end extremities to provide offset crank ends 37 and 38, preferably disposed parallel to the rock shafts, and at their outer extremities are bent to provide U-shape offset crank ends 39 and 40, the offset of these crank ends being relatively greater than that of the'crank ends 37 and 3 8 and also being angularly offset with respect to said crank ends 37 and 38. I

The crank ends 37 and 38 are loosely engaged in the socket ends 41 and 42 of a coupling yoke member 43 of generally oval shape having a flange 44 engaging the barrel cam 25, the latter being disposed in the opening of the yoke member. will be observed that the flange 26 :of the cam member is wider than the flange 44 of the yoke member to allow the latter 'toslide transversely of the cam member as the same'is moved into its operative and inoperative positions. f

In order to swing the yoke member between its operative and inoperative positions the handle 22 and the cam carried thereby are adapted to be reciprocatingly moved'through 180, and to this end the yoke member is extended at one side of the cam member 'to allow for the eccentric throw of the latter. In the operative position illustrated in Fig.2 the cam is swung upwardly and is adapted to beyieldably retained. For this purpose the flange 26 is provided with a flat surface 45 which engages a flat surface 46 at the upper side of the flange 44 in vertical alignment with the axis of the cam, a clearance being provided at the bottom to enable the cam to clear the flat surface 45 as it is rotated, the yoke having a slight upward movementas the cam is disengaged from the detent. It will be understood that in the operative position the rock shaft 31 and 32 are under tension and exert a downward spring pressure on the yoke member, so that the detent is yieldably held in position. In the inoperative position illustrated in Fig. 4 the flat 45 of the cam abuts a stop 47 formed on the lower side of the yoke flange '44 and which limits the counterclockwise rotation of the cam to 180 In this position the flat 46 is engaged by the cylindrical surface of the cam so that through friction and the weight of the handle and catch means th parts will be retained in this position.

The crank ends 39 and of the respective rock shafts 31 and 32 are adapted to engage angular keeper brackets 48 and 49, suitably mounted on the radiator frame and cowl, or upon any other convenient part of the chassis in proximity to the hood ends. These brackets are illustrated as formed of sheet metal, and their engaging faces, which are preferably disposed at an angle of about are respectively provided with pressed out rounded ribs 50 and 51 for engagement by the rounded crank ends, this arrangement'providing positive and firm engagement, irrespective of variations in the mounting and disposition of the parts.

socket ends 4l'and 42 of the coupling yoke member, so that they not only rotate therein but may have 'a differential movement, in which case the coupling yoke member will assume a position slightly out of parallel with the hood, the play being such as to permit this.

, member, while remaining in a vertical position, is

' tension of .the crank shafts.

swung upwardly in an arc about the axis of the i crank shafts 31 and 32, thus rotating said crank shafts. As the crank shafts are turned the crank ends'39 and 40 are first brought under and into engagement with the keeper brackets, whereupon they are .sprung under tension as the movement of the handle is completed and the flat surface 45 of the cam 26 engages the flat detent surface 46, in which position the parts are held under the The hood is thus effectually held downwardly and inwardly through the angularity of the keeperbrackets. The dot-and-dash lines, Fig. '3, indicate the untensioned angular position of the crank ends 39 and 40 with respect to'the crank ends 37 and 38. In the event that any irregularity in the-hood, or in the mounting of the keeper brackets, or in the independently formed rock-shafts, causes one of the crank ends to be engaged before the other the loose connection of the 'rockshafts with the coupling yoke member is such that tens'ion will not be applied to this crank end'u'ntil the other crank end engages its keeper bracket, whereupon tension will be applied equally to the two crank ends irrespective of such irregularity, and the hood-will be held with the same pressure at one end as at the other. The coupling yoke member'thus functions as an equalizer between the two rock-shafts. v 1

I have illustrated and described a preferred and satisfactory embodiment'of my invention, but it will be obvious that changes may be made therein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claims. N v l Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure'by LettersPatent.is:'- 1. A hood catch actuator, for operating keeper engaging catch means, amovementtranslating elongated yoke member adapted to be movably connected to said catch means, operating handle means rotatable about an axis transverse to the hood surface, and cam means carried by said handle'means engaging said. yoke member and adapted to move said member in an up and down direction relative to the hoodand whereby said catch means is adapted to be moved into and out of keeper engaging relation. 2. A hood catch actuator, for operating keep-- er engaging catch means, adapted to swing about a horizontal axis parallel to the hood, comprising a movement translating elongated yoke member adapted to be 'pivotally connected to said catch means, operating handle means rotatable about an axis transverse to the hood surface, and-cam means carried by said handle means engaging said yoke member and adapted to move 'said 14 member in an up and down direction relative'to the hood and whereby said catch means isadapted to be moved into and out of keeper engaging relation. T 3. A hood catch actuator, for operating keeper engaging catch means, comprising movement translating means adapted to be'movably connected to said catch means, operating handle means rotatable about an axis transverse to the hood surface, and cam means carried by: said 150 ment translating means and. said cam means adapted to yieldably retain the catch means in its operative position.

RAYMOND G. MOORE. 

